Niko and Johnny Have a Drink
by Jujubee1981
Summary: Just a one-off scene during the events of Hollow Earth.  I haven't written in about a year, so I'm trying to get back into it!  Hope you enjoy!


**This is a one-off scene of Druitt and Tesla during the events of Hollow Earth. Nothing special, just trying to get back to writing after a very very long absence!**

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><p>John Druitt and Nikola Tesla sat side-by-side in the vast library of the Sanctuary wearing matching morose expressions and drinking. Druitt was nursing his fourth pint of warm, bitter, black beer and Tesla was working his way steadily to the bottom of a hundred-year-old bottle of Pouilly-Fouisse. Neither seemed to be enjoying his drink or his company.<p>

"That communicator's working?" Druitt asked.

"Yes!" Tesla snapped out his exasperated reply even as John reached "-ing?" in his question. Nikola shot his companion a sidelong glare and repeated "Yes!" waspishly.

"Well, not a peep out of Helen in over an hour, old boy. Can't blame me for wondering." John said smugly.

Nikola picked up the small device and slid the tips of his long, clever fingers across the touch-screen. The screen woke up under his touch and the message "Signal Receiving" blinked in blue letters. Nikola shoved the device in front of Druitt's face as he scowled into his beer. "'Signal Receiving'." Tesla stated. Druitt slapped lazily at Tesla's hand to get it away from his face. Tesla pulled his arm back, but added. "Just like it was when you asked two minutes ago."

John gave a humorless grunt. Nikola snapped the communication device back onto the table in front of them with a sharp click. He tossed back the last mouthful of wine in his glass like it was a shot of whiskey, placed his wineglass neatly on the coaster in front on him, and then swept it all onto the floor with sudden temper. John Druitt actually jumped in surprise as the fragile crystal stemware shattered in the silent room. His eyes narrowed warily at the violent outburst of his former friend. "Why Niko, you're flushed." He said silkily. "What has your blood moving after all those years?"

Nikola's cheekbones showed flags of color across his now-lightly-tanned face. His skin was warmer in color and his clothing less formal now that he was living at the Sanctuary and more-or-less human again. He stood abruptly and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets in an uncharacteristically laddish gesture. Pulling his left hand out again immediately, he shoved it through his wild hair and blew out a breath. "Adam Worth, irritating little worm, says that she'll die there." He said softly.

"Hm." Druitt muttered in reply. He clearly didn't want to revisit the insulting monologue Worth had spouted before he, Druitt, had ended it with a stranglehold.

"I don't believe him, of course." Tesla added rapidly. He paused. Silence fell again in the room.

John picked up his beer and took a long pull, watching Tesla from the corner of his eyes. "Of course." He rejoined after the too-long pause.

Tesla picked up the communication device and checked again to see that it was still receiving a signal from Helen Magnus and her team. He put it in his pocket abruptly and said with brisk authority, "If we don't get a check-in we go after her in ten minutes, Druitt."

"Oh, do we?" John replied with a snide smile, baiting Tesla. "I don't fancy you'll make it in time to save her if you walk, Niko. Try asking politely."

Nikola turned his head sharply to look squarely at Druitt with steely eyes. "Finish your drink, Jack my boy." He said in a dulcet, velvety tone that betrayed his vampire lineage. Druitt's smirk froze for a moment, then he let out a low chuckle and lifted the dregs of his pint in a taunting toast.

"To friendship." He said darkly, tilting the remaining alcohol down his throat. He stood, towering over the slim, wild-haired scientist, and glanced down at the shattered wine glass on the floor. His eyes lifted to meet Tesla's and he lifted one brow.

Tesla lifted both of his in reply. Druitt muttered a curse and stalked off with his pint glass to the dumbwaiter that was installed in one of the library walls. Druitt took the opportunity to calm his breathing and cool down. Tesla made him furious for many reasons but perhaps the greatest reason John Druitt hated Nikola Tesla was that John Druitt feared Nikola Tesla...and he was determined that Tesla should never know it. Druitt was a man of very few fears.

When he had placed his glass on the dumbwaiter and sent it down to the kitchen, he turned back to Tesla with his calm intact to find the Serbian genius surveying the remnants of his temper tantrum on the floor while calmly drinking the last few gulps of wine straight from the bottle like a sailor. He thumped the empty bottle onto the table with a flourish, gave Druitt a steely look, and said, "Let's go, Johnny. Our lady need us."


End file.
